Caltagirone

A city in colour

In Caltagirone, traditional pottery production is linked to a thousand-year-old history dating back to ancient times.
According to the Italian archaeologist Paolo Orsi the production of maiolica preceded the arrival of the Arabs, but we know for sure that their arrival in the 9th century increased production, thanks to the introduction of a new technique – glazing – which made the pottery waterproof and more resistant.
A few centuries later, during the Spanish rule of Alfonso of Aragon, pottery trade had greatly developed and allowed artisans to sell their ceramics all over the island.
Unfortunately, the earthquake of 1693 interrupted the potters’ activity and destroyed many of the floors made with the maiolica of Caltagirone.
Today some of the fragments are preserved in the Museum of Ceramics.
foto facciata museo  dei vasi fuori il museo
After the earthquake, decorative motifs were replaced in order to make trade flourish again. In the 19th century, however, with the introduction of cement, the production of maiolica stopped.
The potters’ centuries-old activity ended when the last master potters disappeared in the 1930s.
In 1918 Don Luigi Sturzo founded the Istituto d’Arte della Ceramica (Institute of Ceramic Art) and saved a tradition that seemed destined to be lost. In 1965 the Museum of Ceramics was inaugurated, a safe place that preserved and protected a priceless cultural heritage.
foto ceramiche in ordine di descrizione per periodo

Many owners, one palace

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A triumph of colour

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A prominent church

A half-Baroque church

Norman apses

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giovanni Battista

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The internal colours

A small room with a golden entrance

Two illustrious patron saints

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A hall for the feasts

New roads for Catania

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A new site for a new church

The city of museums

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The two churches

The role of the religious orders in rebuilding the Val di Noto

Church of San Giuliano (St. Julian) on Via dei Crociferi: reconstruction

Wonderful quick decorations

The chocolate of Modica

Discovering the mother church

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

One city, two sites

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the Mother Church of San Nicolò and of the Santissimo Salvatore

The Baroque town by the sea

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The colours of the cathedral

The wall comes to life

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giuliano ai Crociferi

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new site for a new city

Freedom of worship and the role of the Catholic Church in the diffusion of Baroque

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The interior and its masterpieces

From International Gothic to present day

A square as the heart of the city

A symbol for the town

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A miniature city

A feast only for Scicli

A colourful floor

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Some prestigious works

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Between white and black

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Staircase of Angels

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista

A museum to save a tradition

Feasting in Palazzolo

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A talking palace

The senses tell the story of the Badia di Sant’Agata

Searching for colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The church of Carmine

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the staircase of Santa Maria del Monte

Feast days

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and San NicoIò l’Arena

A majestic and luminous church

From the contrast of the exterior to the internal jubilation of colours

The senses tell the story of the church of Santa Maria del Carmelo

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Burgos crucifix

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph